1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of brassieres, particularly to the field of brassieres for smaller sizes/immovable breasts.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, brassieres for smaller sizes/immovable breasts merely scale down from the larger sizes, without taking into account the basic differences between smaller size and immovable breasts and larger size pendulous breasts. Smaller size breasts are immovable.
In this regard, smaller/immovable size breasts do not project downwardly and outwardly, as do larger sized breasts. Smaller/immovable breasts do not need to be supported in the same manner since the smaller/immovable breasts are not pendulous as are the larger natural breasts. Current bra cups project forward, in an attempt to push the breast tissue up, in a forward direction, and towards each other to create cleavage.
By scaling from a C cup to a smaller size cup, as is presently done in the industry, the volume is presumed to be less and the boundary is presumed to be smaller.
In the prior art brassieres, the cups are positioned in the wrong place and do not function properly. In particular, the cups are too close together, and the gore cannot touch the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,519,137 to O'Boyle et al. discloses a brassiere. The patent describes the problems small busted women have with industry bras and grading. In the Background of the invention, O'Boyle et al. describes the problems with brassiere sizing in the art. In particular, O'Boyle et al. teaches that brassieres are produced in standard sizes based upon the around the body dimension of the wearer, and a cup volume designation. In the United States, the body measurement is stated in inches and is divided into two inch increments e.g. 30, 32, 34, 36, 38. Cup volume is referred to by the letters of the alphabet beginning at AA and progressing to A, B, C, D and DD with AA being the smallest volume size. When a brassiere style is in development, it is initially fitted to a particular size. The size customarily used is size 34B, because it is considered to be representative of the most commonly worn size. A master pattern for each of the major brassiere components is developed from this size 34B prototype. This master pattern is then used in making a pattern for other sizes, which is called grading. The accepted industry practice is to grade from the size 34B to smaller volume capacity cup sizes (size 34A) to reduce on a proportional basis both the depth of the breast receiving cup and the entire perimeter of the breast receiving cup. By proportionally reducing the entire circumferential perimeter of the cup, the remaining body encircling portions are required to be elongated so that the around the body fit could be achieved. The reduction in the circumference of the cup perimeter on a proportional basis also results in the lower edge of the cup being positioned upon the chest wall in the size 34A brassiere differently than in a size 34B brassiere of like styling. While dissatisfaction with fit is generally known for A and AA cup wearers, only limited success has been achieved in correcting the problem.
To determine sizing, it is generally accepted in the industry to determine size as a function of the diaphragm dimension, the around the body chest dimension and the bust dimension. The accepted industry measurements include two basic around the body measurements, the diaphragm measurement which determines the enumerated brassiere size (which is taken around the body below the breasts), and the body chest dimension which is taken around the body along the high points (areola) of the breasts. In general, cup volume is determined by computing the bust size based upon the difference in measurement between the chest measurement and the bust measurement. For example, the following may be used: if the bust is up to ½ inch larger then than the chest, the cup size is AA; if the bust is over ½ inch to 1½ inches larger than the chest, the cup size is A; and if the bust is over 1½ inches and up to 2½ inches larger than the chest, the cup size is B.
Accordingly, the prior art patents still exhibit numerous disadvantages and problems for providing a correct fitting and correct looking brassiere for the smaller sizes.
The invention recognizes the deficiencies in the prior art practices and grading from size B cup to a size A cup was inappropriate. Proportional reduction resulted in a brassiere in which the cups and sides were not optionally positioned on the body. As a result of the cup perimeter being reduced in all dimensions a longer body encircling member is required to compensate for the around the body length not taken up by the breast receiving cups. This mispositions the cups and side panels. For example, the side panel instead of being positioned along the turn of the body (that is where the rib cage curves toward the back of the anatomy) extends along the front of the body.
Further, a problem with industry grading is that it assumes by grading from larger sizes that rib cage circumference decreases with less tissue volume. This is not true. Because of cross grading the industry assumes a larger cup size for a larger rib cage circumference. For example, for a rib cage circumference of 36 inches, the industry assumes a larger cup size than for a rib cage circumference of 34 inches. This is not necessarily correct. The solution for this patent is a grading system to keep the lower measurement of the cup on the band the same as for larger sizes. The patent though still reduces the cup according to standard grade rules for the rest of the cup. Once again, the prior art incorrectly assumes that if there is less volume there must be a smaller cup diameter.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,306 to Brothers describes a post-operative bilateral augmentation brassiere. The patent describes the problem of the center front connector between the cups not being wide enough for proper fit. The Brothers patent discusses the problem of manipulating a relatively smaller base diameter on the chest wall, and describes how industry bras don't fit properly and therefore don't work according to their engineering. U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,306 to Brothers discloses a postoperative bilateral augmentation mammoplasty brassiere. The patent describes the natural shape of a woman's breast prior to a bilateral augmentation mammoplasty as having a “teardrop” profile. The shape of the inframammary (under the breast) fold of the natural breast has the shape of a flattened semicircle, which flattened semicircle fold is representative of the shape of the similarly shaped underwires used in constructing brassieres. The shape of the cups of conventional brassieres are typically conical. A conically shaped brassiere cup does not comfortably accommodate the hemispherical shape of the augmented breast formed by the underlying breast implant. Typically, the augmented breast does not fill out the “tip” of the cone, nor is the bust point supported. Most known types of brassieres do not provide for the augmented breast shape and related chest wall relationships or the additional support required by a woman with augmented breasts. The typical augmented breast has a somewhat hemispherical shape and a convex downslope extending from below the clavicle to the nipple, and a relatively smaller base diameter on the chest wall when compared to a natural breast of equal volume. This is the reason many women with augmented breasts have a wide cleavage or medial distance between the breasts. The bust point, or nipple also has a greater anterior projection than that of a natural breast, and the inframammary fold is now a true semicircle in accordance with the circular shape of the round breast implant. In conventionally constructed brassieres, the center front connector between the cups also is not wide enough for proper fit with augmented breasts. The connector typically is raised off the chest wall thus diminishing the brassieres cantilevered support system. The brassiere cups and breasts are thus forced medially toward center front. Consequently, the cups and underwires are distorted, the cleavage is deepened and the brassiere appears unattractive and too tight. There should be no space between the center front and the chest wall in a properly fitted, comfortable and attractive brassiere that offers the full benefit of a cantilevered support system. What is needed is a center front connector that eliminates the above mentioned problems and ensures proper fit, comfort and support for the breasts. The Brothers patent solves these problems for the woman with augmented breasts by changing the shape of the underwire, formed as a slightly lengthened true semicircle with slight center front outward deflection and lateral outward deflection, changing the shape of the cup in that it has an arcuate shape in both the vertical and horizontal directions for creating a “spherical” cup, and changing the defined width of the center front connector, and its relationship to the center front tips of the underwires of the brassiere allowing for better fit, comfort, appearance and support.
The current assumption is that all breasts should be brought forward and together, therefore the cups should be brought in closer together. They are taking the smaller/immovable breast tissue from the width and trying to put it in the front.
Smaller size breasts and augmented breasts, in the same vein, are relatively immovable.
Additionally, in the prior art, the brassieres attempt to move immovable breast tissue towards the center of the chest and to put the tissue into cups that have an incorrect position and projection, due to grading from larger sizes that have a position and projection that doesn't work for smaller/immovable breasts. The industry also assumes by scaling from a larger size cup the smaller/immovable breasts require smaller cup diameters and wires. This also is not correct.
When scaling and grading bras from larger sizes, as a result of the grading, the industry brings smaller cups closer together (reducing the gore spacing) because that is the philosophy for larger breasts. Bringing cups closer together for the smaller/immovable breast places the underwire into the bust on the side, resulting in the underwire digging into the breast tissue. This reduced spacing also doesn't allow the gore to sit flat on the chest, which doesn't allow the engineering to work properly. This doesn't work for smaller/immovable breasts that are immovable.
In the prior art, the underwire is in the wrong place and has too small of a diameter.
In the industry, the “bustpoint” is defined as the location of the cup in the cradle. When a manufacturer grades his pattern to create different sizes for a bra style he moves the bust point slightly wider with each cup size increase. According to the website, “Her Room”, (B) cup bust points are ½″ further apart than (A) cups. Bust points get ¼″ farther apart between (B) and (C) and (D) cups and ⅛″ farther apart with larger cups. Also in the industry, “band size” is the ribcage measurement. “Cup size” is defined as breast projection. It is a measurement of how far the breasts project from the chest wall. Each cup size denotes a 1″ increase in your body's circumference around your bustline.
According to Brassiere Measurement as defined on the website Wikipedia, the term “cup” was not used to describe bras until 1916, and manufacturers relied on stretchable cups to accommodate different sized breasts. In October 1932, the SH Camp and Company correlated the size and pendulousness of a woman's breast to letters of the alphabet A through D.
Accordingly, the (A) and (B) cups and the sizing for the (A) and (B) cups were developed for pendulous breasts, and have been designed as such ever since.
Industry designs these bras to contain the weight and engineer the product to work with this weight and movement. An A size bust has none of these features. An A size bust is basically 1″ larger than the rib cage and cannot be manipulated the way the larger sizes can. An A cup breast also does not need the same support as the larger sizes, yet the cups produced are scaled down from a mass and weight bearing philosophy.
When the industry does consider the A customer the solution is either no cup at all, a padded cup which is a version of a push-up, a gel insert or a foam liner. The push up or cookie models are designed to add volume from under the bust for lift or uses slanted cups with padding to create cleavage. For the small A cup these solutions are uncomfortable and ineffective because they don't take into account the problems of the limited mass of the small bust or the location of the bust on the body. They are a solution based on the industry solution for a larger bust to create support, lift and cleavage. Using the C cup design and scaling it down for the A bust places the brassiere in the wrong place on the body. The engineering for a larger bust design does not scale properly for the smaller bust.
Standards for bra sizing in the United States and the world are as described in the following text and charts.
Bra Standards (The Bra Book): Figuring out proper cup size is not easy. It is calculated in relation to band size. The size of an A cup, i.e., the volume an A cup holds, changes depending on the band size. An A cup on a 32 band is not the same as an A cup on a 34 band, and so on. Just because a B is thought to be smaller than a C does not mean it actually is. A B cup is just smaller than a C on the same band size. The snugger band size decreases the width and depth of the cup which means the 34C, while smaller than the 36C, actually holds the same volume of breast tissue as the 36B. A 38A compared to a 34A, the cup will be obviously bigger. But if you compare a 38A with a 34D, the cups will be much closer in size.
Step 1: Band Size: First wrap the tape measure around the ribcage just below the bust and take the measurement. Since bra band sizes are even numbers, round up to the nearest even number. For example if the measure is 31 inches, round up to 32. The most common way of fitting advises adding 4 inches to this number. Some fitters advise to add only 2 inches to their rounded up ribcage measurement. So if the measure is 30 inches, the wearer is likely a 32 band. Some fitting methods combine these two, advising that if the ribcage measurement is 32 or below, then add 4 inches and if it's 34 or above add only 2 inches. Still other fitters will advise not to add any additional inches at all, which does work for some women.
Step 2: Cup Size: Wrap the tape measure around the fullest part of the bust. Then subtract the band size from this number and use the difference in inches to calculate the cup size using the chart. For example, if the bust measurement is an inch larger than the band size, the cup size will most likely be an A. If the bust measurement is two inches larger than the band size, the cup size will most likely be a B.
CHART 1U.S.Difference: Bust measurementCupMinus band sizeSizeLess than 1″AA1″A2″B3″C4″D5″DD/E6″DDD/F7″G  7.5″GG8″G, H9″H, I10″ H, I, J11″ HH11.5″-13″I   13″-15.5″J15.5″-17″K, JJ
CHART 2International Sizing: Bra-Band SizingUSAUKEUROFrenchItalianAustralian28283030—32327085110343475902123636809531438388510041640409010551842424444464648485050525254545656
CHART 3International Sizing: Bra-Cup SizingUSAUKEUROFrenchItalianAustralianAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBB or noneBCCCCCCDDDDDDDD/EDDEEDDDDDDD/FEFFEEGFFFFHFFFFIGGJGGGGKHHHLHHMJJNJJJJ
According to Wikipedia, most bras are designed to be form fitting and to lift the breasts off the chest wall if they sag and to restrain their movement. Bra designers and manufacturers originally produced bras that were purely functional and gradually added elements to improve the design, but they have now largely shifted from functionality to fashion. Manufacturers' standards and sizes vary widely, making it difficult for women to find a bra that fits. Bra measurement procedures conflict with one another. Even professional bra fitters disagree on the correct size for the same woman. Women's breasts vary widely in size and shape; most are asymmetric to a degree and can change from month to month depending on the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, or weight gain or loss. As a result, from 75-80% of women wear the incorrect bras size.
A bra usually consists of a cup for each breast, a center panel (the gore), a band running around the torso under the bust, and shoulder straps.
There are different sizing systems in different countries. Most use the chest circumference measurement system and cup sizes A, B, C, etc., but there as some significant differences. Most bras available usually come in 36 sizes, but bra labeling systems used around the world are at time misleading and confusing. Cup and band sizes vary around the world. For example, must women assume that a B cup on a 34 band is the same size as a B cup on a 36 band. In fact, bra cup size is relative to the band size, as the actual volume of a woman's breast changes with the dimension of her chest. In countries that have adopted the European dress size standard, the torso is measured in centimeters and rounded to the nearest multiple of 5 cm.
Bra designers liken designing a bra to building a bridge because similar forces are at work. As a bridge is affected by gravity and horizontal forces, forces affecting a bra's design include gravity and sometimes tangential forces created when a woman runs or turns her body.
The “pencil test”, developed by Ann Landers, has been promoted as a criterion to determine whether a girl should start wearing a bra. A pencil is placed under the breast, and if it stays in place by itself, then wearing a bra is recommended; if it falls to the ground, it is not. This is illustrative of the pendulousness of larger breasts.
Many problems, including health problems, are associated with poorly fitting bras. Finding the correct fit can be very difficult for many women. Studies also show that the current system of bra sizing is quite inadequate. Larger breasted women tend to wear bras that are too small, and smaller breasted women tend to wear bras that are too big.
It is commonly accepted that sagging occurs because a breast's normal anatomical support is inadequate, especially in women with larger breasts. The bra is worn to provide artificial lift, based on the presumption that the breasts cannot support themselves. Frequently, A cup women are more comfortable without a bra than with a bra.
According to Eve's Apples, the traditional bra measuring system of adding 4-5 inches on the band doesn't work on small busted women, leaving most without an accurate bra size and some without a size at all. The number one fix for women in the wrong bra size is to go up a cup size and down a band size. The same is true for small busted women. Due to the inaccurate results in traditional bra measuring and the variety of small bust shapes, they have altered the traditional bra measurement system to best fit small busts.
The Individual Breast Measurement system helps women who are in between sizes or have wide set breasts. It will tell a woman if she needs a larger cup size due to breast shape. This is a system in which each breast is individually measured from the breast bone across the breast and to the place where the breast tissue ends on the side of the body.
A woman's breast tissue affects the way a bra fits. There are three types of breast tissue including shallow, medium, and hill. There are also differences in breast placement including narrow breasts, centered breasts, and wide set breasts. All of the differences affect the fit of the bra. There are myths regarding bras for the small breasted woman that women with small breasts don't need a bra, and that women with small breasts must wear an A cup. These are not true.
According to Her Room, when selecting a bra, it is important to know that a cup size on one band size is not equal to the same cup size on another band size. When a manufacturer grades his patterns to create different sizes for a bra style, he moves the bust points slightly wider with each cup size increase. B cup bust points are ½″ farther apart than A cups. Bust points get ¼″ farther apart between B, C, and D cups, and ⅛″ farther apart with larger cup sizes.
An element of the proper fitting bra is the center panel, or gore. It is best if the center panel between the cups sits firmly against your chest.
For underwire bras, each band size has a pre-determined breast diameter built into it in the form of an underwire. Changing your band size can change the underwire diameter. It is also a fact that the same size underwire is used in different cup sizes—the underwire in a 36C is the same underwire used in a 34 D and a 38B cup size. Thus, when you go up a band size and down a cup size, you will have the same fitting cup diameter (the same wire will be used) but a larger band. The diameter increase between standard underwire sizes is approximately ⅜″. A standard underwire's length increase between sizes is approximately ⅝″.
According to Lula Lu, as the band size goes up, so does the cup size due to how bra cups are graded. For example, the 36AA cup is larger than a 34AA cup and a 34AA cup is larger than a 32AA cup. Additionally, manufacturers normally use a B or C cup for their bra designs and an A cup is usually scaled down from either the B or C cup used in the designs. Thus, the A cup may not be a true A cup and can result in a poor fit for smaller cup women.
According to How To Make a Bra, by Mark Garbarczyk, when a designer produces a new bra, the prototype is made to a core size. This prototype is then “graded” (enlarged or reduced) to produce the other sizes. For size/band grading, the standard step increase in band size is 2″, which takes a 34B to a 36A, for example. The underband will increase by 2″, a quarter of that increase must be placed in each half cradle and wing. For cup grading, to get from 34B to 34C, for example, the underband length remains the same, the cradle must increase to provide the larger cup size, but the wing must get smaller to maintain the underband length, and the cup section is graded one size larger. The grading principles used currently in the industry are as follows. Cup Grading: to increase the cup volume, the cradle of the bra must also increase to accommodate the increase in cup size and the wing must be reduced to maintain the band size. Band Grading: to increase the size of the band, but maintain the sup/cradle size, combined with cup grading. Cross Grading: to use the cups and cradle of one size as the cups and cradle of another size bra.
According to Wikipedia, bra sizes consisting of a number indicating the band size and a letter indicating the cup size became popular by the 1940's. The shape, size, symmetry, and spacing of women's breasts vary, the breasts may have been augmented, the breasts may be tubular in shape, or may sag. Manufacturing standards and sizes vary. All of which contribute to poorly fitting bras.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,123,589 to Chapman discloses a bra size grading system. In the Summary section, Chapman addresses the problems with industry grading. In the current industry, grading assumes that everything gets reduced with smaller cup sizes. This is incorrect, and by doing so, does not put the cup in the correct position on the body.
The website Beauty Lies Beneath includes the following European size chart:
Cm 2ITEUFRUKUSCUP BCUP C63-671658030xs79-8181-8368-722708532s84-8686-8 73-773759034m89-9190-93Bra Band Size:
USAItaly301322343364385The above European chart shows that if you measure at 34″, the B cup is 89-91 and the C cup is 90-93.The website called 85B includes an international bra size calculator. It measures:
(1) “below the breast” band size;
(2) “around the breasts and back” (bust size); and
(3) “above the breasts” (above bust size).
International Variance and Equivalent Sizes:
It is common for manufacturers of any country to attach size labels to their garments which quote their equivalent sizes in a number of different countries. Unfortunately, these are often inaccurate. An example may help explain the problem. A bra made in Europe which corresponds to the European size 75B, for instance, will most probably be labeled as 34B (USA) and 34B (UK) and, as the method of calculation for cup size differ in these countries, it is possible that the physical size of the cup may differ also. In some cases the band size may also differ.
In order to counteract this effect, the 85B Bra size calculator calculates the result for each national standard separately using the correct method for each.
Entering these measurements in their respective fields of the 85B Bra size calculator:
1. Band size: 30
2. Bust size: 36
3. Above bust: 34
Calculated, the US and UK sizes are shown as 34B but the European size is 75C and not 75B, as may have been expected. The calculator converted the inch measurements to centimeters and then calculated the European size according to standard EN 13402. At the same time it calculated the US sizing using the standard method and the UK size with the method used in the UK.
European clothes sizes follow the European Standard EN13402. The 85B Bra six calculator adheres to this standard.